Mail crane



Oct. 30, 1923. 1,472,732

' J. Z.-MAST MAIL CRANE Filed Dec. 13, 1921 2 sheets-skeet 1 qm PJ J (l G amen v INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY J. Z. MAST MAIL CRANE Oct. 30, 1923.

Filed Dec. 15. 192i 2 Sheets-SheetZ Jail Z.MQSZ' I INVENTQR ATTORNEY WITNESSE Patented Uct.3@, 1925.

t it 1 JOHN Z. MAST, OF DENBIGH, VIRKEi-INIA.

MAIL CRANE. I,

Application filed December 13. 1921". Serial no. 522,046.

To aZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN Z. MAST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denbigh, in the county of lVarwick and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail Cranes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mail crane, the principal object of the invention being to provide means for easily and quickly placing the mail bag on the crane inav catching position and for so supporting it that it can be caught by the catching device on the car without interference upon the part of the holding means.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for raising and lowering the bag holding means so that the said means can be lowered to have the bag placed thereon and then raised into catching posit-ion.

This invention also consists in certain otherfeatures of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the sev eral parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention.

Figure 2 is a front view thereof.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional View.

Figure 41 is a crosssectional view.

In these views 1 indicates a hollowiupright which is adapted to be placed along the track and the front of which is provided with a slot 2 which extends vertically,

as shown, the side walls of the slot forming guideways for the sliding member 3. Sprockets 4, are mounted on shafts 5 in the upright and a chain 6 passes over said sprockets and is secured to the sliding member 3 so as to cause said member to move vertically when the chain is caused to travel over the sprockets. Shaft 7 is rotatably' mounted in the upright and has one end projecting therefrom to receive a. ratchet 8 and a crank handle 9. A dog 10 on the up right engages the ratchet to control the movement oft-he shaft. 1A sprocket 11 is mounted on this shaft and has its teeth engaging the rear part of the chain so that the chain will be moved when the shaft is rotated by the crank.

member can be raised or ing the crank in diiferent will be held in adjusted dog engaging the ratchet.

lowered byrotatdirections and it positionby the Brackets 12 are secured to the sliding.

nects the projecting end of the lower arm with the front arm at a point in front of the pivot sothat when the upper arm is raised the lower arm is lowered and vice versa. The outer ends of the arms are notched to receive rings 20 on the mail bag A, the tendency of the spring to spread the arms apart acting to hold the bag in place. A bracket 21 is secured to the upright adjacent the bottom thereof and is arranged to engage the lower arm when the sliding member has been lowered to force said lower arm upwardly and thus facilitate the placing of the bags upon the arms as will be apparent.

From the above it will be apparent that the crank shaft is first turned, after releasing the dog, to lower the parts so as to bring the arms within reach to permit the placingof the mail bag thereon. This lowering of the parts will cause the lower arm to engage the bracket 21 So as to cause the arms to swing towards each other into bag receiving position. After the bag has been placed in position the crank shaft is turned in an opposite direction to raise the parts to place the bag in a position where it will be engaged by the catching device on the mail car. When this catching device strikes the bag the arms and blocks will swing horizontally in the direction the train is traveling, until brought to rest by the stops, thus removing strain off the parts and facilitating the removal of the bag from theiarms.

I may also provide a pair ofpulleys 22 for the chain 6 for keeping the same tight and preventing it from slipping and I may also The two arms are .con-' Thus the Sliding provide an electric lamp 23 on arm 16-which is supplied with current from the battery 24, a suitable switch being located in the circuit for controlling the same. This lamp 7 is desirable when the mail bag is placed on the device at night.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent.

I desire it to be understood that .I may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim. What I claim is A mail crane comprising a hollow up right, a vertically movable member thereon, sprockets within the upright, a chain passing over the sprockets and connected lower arm for moving the arms towards each other.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

1115 JOHN Z. X MAST. mark Witness: P. A. W. 

